Akin Meets With Conservative Donors in Tampa

Todd Akin made it clear to Republican leaders that he has no intention of quitting the Missouri senate race by meeting with leading social conservative donors.

He traveled to Tampa — site of next week’s Republican National Convention — for a meeting with members of the Council for National Policy, Politico reports. Akin has bowed to pressure not to attend the convention following the uproar over his comments about rape.

Politico said it had received confirmation from one of the attendees that Akin was at the Tuesday meeting, although it said it wasn’t clear if he had been invited before he said that women rarely get pregnant in cases of “legitimate” rape.

National GOP leaders including the presidential ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell have all called on Akin to drop out of the election. However leaders of social conservative groups such as the Family Research Council and American Family Association have urged him to stay in.

The Council for National Policy describes itself as a group that brings together “the country’s most influential conservative leaders in business, government, politics, religion, and academia” to provide a forum “to cultivate ideas to help solve America’s growing problems.”